The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-09-15

Maj. Blackburn, in his eloquent ad-
dress at the Rink on Sunday evening,
gave as a remedy for the evils of in
temperance. this passage Of Scripture:
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God,
and his righteousness" That is
true proposition. lie every doggery
keeper, and every drinking man, and
every brewer and distiller, would be-
come soundly converted to God, there
would be little need Of carrying on
temperance meetings, or signing
pledges. But it seems, after all, that
such a remedy, viewed in the light of
relief from the evils Of intemper-
ance, is vague sort of theorizing.
Let us sit down in front of one of
the devils dens that curse the commu-
nifty, and place the open Bible before
US, awaiting the conversion of the
keeper of the den in answer to our ap-
peals. What success will we achieve?
We shall see the Devils Agent come
and go, with waddling gait and
wheeling breath, and as little knowl-
edge of sentiment as a hungry dog
has of the rights of property. Men
ton to him the crucifxion Of Christ,
point him to the Bible, and he will
chuckle like the bubbling of an aban-
doned gas well. Thus he comes and
goes, laughing at Christianity, mock
ing God, and destroying men, until
the rot of The beer-vat destroys the
polluted earthly tenement, and the
Devil takes him home (This is not
said in anger, but prayerfully, with a
full knowledge that he chooses for
himself in the matter.) Another gen
Grafton is trained up, born with the
mark Of the sins Of the father, and
goes right on in the same internal
traffic, and another generation of
bodies and souls is started on the way
to ruin. The Bible is still there,
opened in front Of the den; mothers
are still praying for their sons: faith
ers are vainly appealing to the law;
church members are going in and out
Of the horrible dens begging the in
fuence of the miserable wretches in
political campains; the sea of woe,
and ruin, and death, still ebbs and
flows, and what is gained? lie there
was no sin, Of course there would be
no intemperanee. But we must meet
this question on tangible grounds.
The temperance people are, as rule.
thinking people, and cannot be put
off with mere generalities. We have
the open Bible and the churches. All
is appeal and invitation. No one is
compelled by law to become church
member or convert to Christianity;
yet if man attack US in church and
seek to destroy our lives or the lives
or the lives Of our families, the law
takes hold Of him and sends him to
the Penitentiary. We place the open
Bible before the doggery keeper, and
he spurns it and attacks the families
of Christian people with the most ac-
cursed weapon known to mankind.
What shall we do? Get down and
pray for him, and appeal to the senti-
ment Of a creature whose only God
dwells in his stomach, and who would
willingly send the soul of every man
in the community to hell for money?
Or shall we do in this case the same
as in the other case = pray
for him, and if that will
not avail any good thing, knock
him on the head with a legal club?
The idea Of sitting down and waiting
for the doggery keepers to be convert
ed, is quite ridiculous viewed from the
light of practical experience. We
should appeal to mems conscience and
man hood, just the same as in every
other kind of transgression, and If
they will not listen to reason, they
must be made to feel the effect of the
law. There is not Gospel institution
on earth that is not protected by law,
and whose success does not go hand
in hand with law. Shall we make an
exception in favor of the doggery
keeper? If SO, why? We are not
speaking Of this as party fight. We
believe the time is rapidly approach
ing when all the parties will have to
lend their aid to furthering this great |
work. And when the time does come,
all will rejoice in the part taken.
Again we will say to the WaYerlY |